Thread: Here we go again: Belly Dance tv owner jailed

Originally Posted by Tarik Sultan

...Egypt is still a secular state. ...

Sure it is. Just like the US is.

Somewhere else, I read a comment (by somebody who speaks Arabic) that at least part of the ads were very much aimed at grownup, like adult toys and male enhancement supplies. In addition, some of the streaming ads apparently were personal ads - I do not know what kind of personal ad, though, but esp. if it is true that there were adult supply ads, it is not completely unthinkable that some of the advertisers may possibly have been looking for or offering adult kind of encounters, rather than looking for marriage prospects.

There's a thread about that channel on Bhuz - Dancing on Egypt's new 24/7 belly dance channel, El-Tet with some updates on the recent events.

Originally Posted by Zorba

Sure it is. Just like the US is.

Not to say that conservative religious people are not making their influence felt, just like here, but Sharia is not the law in Egypt just as creationism isn't part of standard curiculums in schools here. By the way, when Sharia was the law in Egypt, male and female dancers worked freely and openly and were the top attractions at the saintday celebrations. Now if what is said about adds for adult toys and hook ups is true, then that was just plain stupid on the part of the owner. Its not that Egyptians are prudish about sex. They have no problem with it so long as it is done within the context of marriage. Lingere shops are doing quite well there, but they have an approach of being discreet about such things as is the case in many African and Asian societies, such as India for example.

Perhaps what we see which we disagree with that happens in such societies is through the perspective of our own cultural eyes, what we willingly accept in our own countries because we are used to it, so in that vein, perhaps it would be enlightening to hear what people from the regions concerned have to say on this matter to draw some kind of balance.

But to think in our societies what we are used to and accept how that acceptance was forced, for sure, little nibbles into morality has been going on for decades and we are still being subject to it, just look at what is now accepted which was not say a couple of years ago.

Of course in our societies what motivates most of the changes in morality is plain old money again, so could it be whilst we are being made more and more immoral in many other's eyes, it is for the purpose of financial gain and nothing more? An example being the pornography industry and what people may becoming because of the easier access to it and it is suggested where there is money to be made, big finance can be found and with that, there has been some investigations to suggest our high street banking is involved and so with that, who and what else ?

Can we stop, sure we can if we have the strength to stand up against a crowd and so no, because the crowd will be those that couldn't care less either way with the other minority being the pusher of the change they desire, the trick is not to annoy the majority in saying no, as the majority are fickle.

A lot of what goes in Arab countries in terms of public behaviour I do agree with, not all and not to that extent in a lot of cases, but they have a grasp on what might be acceptable, or at least are making noises in that direction, so it is up to the people of the region to decide whether they want more or less restriction. My thoughts are such, because I believe in privacy and the concept of there is a time and place for everything and do we really want to have our senses assaulted all the time. Yeah, live and let live, but that can go two ways.

Originally Posted by Tarik Sultan

Dancing has not been outlawed in Egypt and there are still people who own nightclubs. Besides, Egypt is still a secular state. Its not Saudi Arabia. He's obviously pissed someone off and so he's bee arrsted on trumped up charges. Nothing new, hapens all he time. Fifi Abdou's been arrested so many times I'm sure she has her own private suite.

So why was he arrested? The article implies it was his recording of bellydancers, but then specifically says it was due to not having a license, and the ads that were being aired. So are we being media-led to think that this is an excuse by the Egyptian authorities to stop the bellydancing, or are the charges justified? Whats the follow up?